Then Stay
by nalunatics
Summary: Natsu shows up at Lucy's house, popping in through the window-no big surprise, and asks to stay the night only to cause trouble involving a certain journal Lucy writes in. A NaLu fic, I hope you all like it.


**Author's Note: **Okay, so this just popped into my head. It's just a quick drabble about Natsu reading Lucy's journal.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail, just the plot!

**Lucy**

_I don't know, but I think I'm falling for you… _Lucy stared down at the first line of the newest entry in her journal and sighed. All her previous entries for the past couple of weeks had the same feeling to them; they all were her deepest feelings, scrawled out in black ink. She felt as if her own words were mocking her because she knew that nothing could be done about the way she was feeling. Lucy sighed once more and closed her journal leaving the one sentence as her note for the day. _Maybe I'll add to it later… But Mavis knows it'll be the same as all the other pages in my notebook… _Lucy thought sourly. She pushed herself away from her writing desk and flopped back onto bed. It was around ten o'clock at night and the Celestial mage thought it would be a good time to write something new in her journal but apparently she was stuck on the same subject. Speaking of that subject, a knock on her window suddenly startled Lucy from her thoughts. She turned almost falling off of her bed only to be greeted by her pink haired partner who, incredibly so, still did not find use for her front door. Swinging her legs off the bed she unbolted the window that was usually unlocked but due to the bitter cold that seemed to be sweeping through Magnolia, Lucy had latched it.

"Uh, hey Natsu, what's up?" Lucy knew she probably had a dusting of a blush across her face as she greeted the Dragon Slayer. He hopped effortlessly in and seated himself at her desk facing her.

"I saw your light on, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." He shrugged and grinned up at her, "Everything is okay, right?" Lucy smiled at his concern, as much as he might get on her nerves at times, especially with jumping through her window and catching her naked, she always knew he cared a lot about her.

"Yeah, don't worry. Everything's fine, I was just doing some writing." Lucy assured him and relief washed over Natsu's face.

"So, what have you been writin'?" Natsu casually asked and began flipping through the pages of her notebook that had been left sitting on her desk. Lucy immediately blanched and lunged at him snatching the book from his hands.

"Gah! Nothing!" Lucy gasped as she managed to have the book clutched to her chest as she sat on the ground at Natsu's feet. He looked at her quizzically and tipped his head to one side. _How can he manage to be one of the fiercest wizards in all of Fiore yet be this adorable dork at the same time? _ Lucy thought irritably as she let her emotions run rampant.

"Why don't you ever let me read any of your stuff? You let Levy read it, we're friends, why can't I?" Natsu's face went into an adorable pout as he questioned his blond counterpart.

"W-well, Levy's different…" Lucy got out lamely and Natsu looked hurt.

"Why is Levy different than me? I just wanna know what you're writing about." There's no way that she could let Natsu read what she wrote, it would be way too embarrassing. She couldn't even think about what his reaction would be; he'd probably laugh and think it was a joke or he might not think of it in a romantic way at all and just go on about them being great friends and what not…

"It's just personal, Natsu. There's nothing wrong with you it's just, I don't know…" Lucy was struggling to find answers for him because she knew how persistent he was, "Hey, where's Happy?" Lucy asked hoping to distract him from all the questions he was throwing at her.

"Oh, he went back home on his own, he was really tired today. I told him to just go get some rest, otherwise he would've stopped by too." Natsu explained and Lucy nodded in understanding.

"Anyways, if it's personal stuff, I get it. But you've _never_ let me read anything! Just a little bit…" Natsu whined and Lucy grimaced at how her plan of distraction had failed.

"Look, Natsu, it's just not meant to be read. I'm sorry." Lucy stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. Natsu sighed and got up and sprawled himself onto her bed. His vest opened up a bit as he was lying on his back, which left his chest and stomach slightly exposed. Lucy had to control herself to not touch the toned muscles of his torso. _I just need to get these thoughts out of my system… Perfect for another entry. _ Lucy thought bitterly.

"What are you staring at you weirdo?" Natsu questioned her as he propped himself up onto his elbows. Lucy only then realized she was still staring at his midsection and she felt her face heat up.

"Uh, nothing?" Lucy laughed hesitantly hoping he didn't notice too much.

"Why are ya staring at me?" Natsu had noticed a bit more than Lucy wanted and a slight blush seemed to appear on his face surprisingly.

"I-I'm not!" Lucy shouted defiantly, "I… think I want to go to bed now. It's getting kind of late, okay?"

"Sure. Do you mind if I stay here? I don't feel like walking all the way home." Natsu groaned and turned his puppy dog eyes on her and Lucy scowled.

"Fine, you can stay." She tiredly crawled into wrapping the blankets around her and snuggled in but realized Natsu was still on the other side of her. She opened one eye and stared at him as her was still sitting up.

"Natsu, what are you doing?"

"Uh… C-can I sleep here? It's a lot more comfortable than the floor." Natsu awkwardly asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Sure he had slept in her bed before with her but it had been unknown to her until she had woken up…

"Uh… S-sure, okay. But stay over on that side, no funny business." Lucy snuggled into her blankets once more, half asleep.

"Alright, Luce." Natsu snickered and then, right before she drifted off, Lucy heard something drop to the floor as Natsu pulled the blankets up on him. She peaked over at him and nearly leapt out of bed. He had taken his vest off and his whole upper half was exposed. It was almost too much to handle and she was about to kick him out of bed until she realized he had already fallen asleep. _Just this once you perv…_ Lucy thought as her mind finally drifted off.

Lucy woke up to the sound of rustling; cracking one eye open she caught sight of the clock on her nightstand. _4:18 a.m._ _Ugh, why am I even awake right now?_ Lucy thought confusedly. Shifting over onto her back Lucy rubbed her eyes in effort to see where the rustling was coming from. Slowly her eyes adjusted in the darkness of her room and she suddenly froze. A shadow of a figure was seated next to her side of the bed seemingly unmoving. Quickly, she switched on the light next to her bed and gasped at the person next to her.

"NATSU! What are you doing? You just scared me half to death!" Lucy shrieked though she was relieved it wasn't an intruder. _Though, Natsu is pretty close to an intruder… _

"I uh…" Natsu stammered and that's when Lucy noticed what was in his grip.

"IS THAT MY JOURNAL!?" Lucy was incredulous, her face was streaked a brilliant red, and her full fury was focused on Natsu.

"…Maybe?" Natsu squeaked out and Lucy leapt out of bed in front of him.

"Did. You. Read. It." She was glowering at the pink haired man in front of her.

"No…?" As soon as he said that she knew that he had. Lucy collapsed onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. She inwardly groaned. Lucy knew Natsu wasn't stupid, she had _literally_ used his name multiple times in her notebook and he wasn't oblivious to things like that like many people believed.

"Uh, Lucy I'm sorry, okay? I just wanted to know what you were writing about, I like seeing what you do…" Natsu quietly spoke up sounding apologetic. Lucy couldn't look at him yet and this time she audibly groaned.

"I told you not to read it…" Lucy whispered, knowing that Natsu could still hear her.

"I'm sorry." Natsu murmured back and Lucy heard him get up and sit on the edge of the bed next to her. "I, uh, didn't know you wrote stuff like _that_ in it; you always are talking about writing a book, I just thought your novel might be in it."

"It's my drafting book and a journal that I write in. It's personal." Lucy stated bluntly, still not removing her hands from her face. After a few moments of painful silence, Natsu gently tugged at one of her hands that covered her face. Lucy struggled against his grip but he was successful and half of Lucy's face was now uncovered. She scowled up at the salmon haired male in front of her and waited.

"Is… That how you really feel about me? You know, what you wrote?" Lucy felt her face fire up once more and she sighed angrily.

"Well, now I have to deal with this because you couldn't keep your nose out of my business!" Lucy brought herself up into a seated position. "At 4:30 in the morning none the less! Natsu, I told you not to read my journal!" She could feel her temper flaring, _stupid Natsu! He couldn't just mind his own business, no. Now I'm going to embarrass myself… _"I can't believe you did this!" Natsu shrank back looking as scared as if it were Erza yelling at him. "Do you know _how___personal this is!? I write _everything_ in this journal and it was the one thing I told you _not _to touch! I let you sleep in my bed; eat all my food, and everything else! I-I just…" Lucy could feel involuntary tears flooding her eyes. _I don't think I've ever been this embarrassed in my life. I don't know what to do all he's doing is sitting there and staring at me like I'm some sort of monster now. I should've just told him to go home last night._ Lucy sat with her hands on her face once more and let the silent tears fall freely. She thought it was a stupid reason to cry but due to the embarrassment and anger, she couldn't control it. Another few minutes passed as Lucy sat hunched against her headboard when she suddenly felt a warm embrace. Natsu had stationed himself next to her and was hugging her tightly, his cheek resting on the top of her head.

"It's okay, I, uh you know, _like_ you too." Natsu whispered into her hair and Lucy froze.  
"What?" She managed to croak out and Natsu sighed.

"Yeah, I like you. Kind of a lot. You're just better with words; you wrote them so, you should know what I mean." Lucy sat in silence, unsure of how to react to what she was hearing or if it was even real. "I know I shouldn't have read it, I really was just looking to see if you were writing any more of your stories but, I guess I just kept reading. You're a good writer. When I saw my name mentioned in some of the pages I got interested…" He turned his puppy dog eyes back on her and Lucy cursed him for making her feel the way she did because she knew she'd forgive him.

"I… did not think this would happen. Are you sure you know _how_ I like you?" Lucy questioned in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah… I guess, I like you in a different way than I like Erza… More like Happy like Charle. Definitely like Alzack and Bisca." Natsu pondered and Lucy felt her stomach squirm. "I'm trying to put a name on it but… you're the one good with words. I just really care about you and I need to be here to protect you. You're my Lucy." He grinned at her.

"Um, well you got it spot on then…" Lucy answered breathily.

"I just don't want to be away from you." Natsu squeezed her once more and Lucy felt herself lean into the embrace.

"Then stay." Lucy stated simply and they eventually drifted off back to sleep, the journal left on a chair, forgotten for the time being.

**A/N:** I hop you guys like it! Just sort of a fluffy, slightly OOC drabble. I thought it was kind of cute though I was hoping it would come out better than this. Anyways, enjoy and please read/review/comment!


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